Linked Together
by Stunstar
Summary: Tyson's brilliant plan to get Kai and Ray together is to handcuff them to one another. The problem? He's lost the keys. yaoi KaiRay
1. The planning commences

A/N: I know I have written fics to complete as well as start working on fics which I promised the readers of 'My Roomie' but this concept entered my head saying 'write me, write me' and so I decided to. Besides this is an attempt to re-establish Kai/Ray fandom since there has been a recent lack of good Kai/Ray fics. I mostly find myself seeing KaiTy and OC fics so I decided to go with this. Also it's my birthday in a little while and I wanted to post something on occasion.

Disclaimer: Don't. Own.

_Linked Together_

_By Stunstar_

_Chapter 1 – The plan commences_

For once in his life Tyson Granger was neither eating, nor was he challenging random people to beyblade matches. And for the first time in his life Tyson was being observant and was quietly pondering something that had been disturbing him for a long, long time. For those who know Tyson that would be the point to pass out cold from shock. Tyson being observant? Tyson quietly pondering? And most of all, Tyson not _eating_?

Now all of this would make one wonder what was it that captivated Tyson's attention enough to keep him from being himself. The answer would be the two older members of his team. One was Kai, the captain, who Tyson had termed 'ice-block' and a variety of other names along those lines. The other would be Ray, the cat-like member of their team.

Standing in a very safe spot behind a tree Tyson carefully observed his older (and far more talented) team members. And right now he was ready to scream with frustration. Here he was forgoing _food_ to watch them and what were they doing? Nothing.

Yes, those two were doing absolutely nothing. Tyson had been there watching them for about twenty minutes and all they had done was sit there on the back porch in their stupid companionable silence. Ray would occasionally say something to which Kai would give a short response and that was it. Tyson was getting increasingly irritable. He didn't know what it was but something told him that those two had something for one another, and it annoyed him to no end that neither of them did anything about it. Why it annoyed him would be another unsolved mystery. Also it had been high time since he had pulled a prank, so both his goals could be accomplished hand-in-hand.

As he continued watching, Ray said something which made Kai smirk and give a retort which caused Ray to give a small frown even though his eyes glinted in amusement.

"I hate you." Tyson heard Ray say as he got up. But there was something very different about the way he said it and it made Tyson grin.

"I know you do." Tyson heard Kai reply with a smug air about him. Ray grinned and passed Kai to go back in through the back door. On his way his rope of hair smacked Kai on the arm, deliberately?

Tyson had seen enough. Grinning gleefully he made his way towards the kitchen through the front entrance, all that watching had made him hungry. Inside the kitchen Max was talking animatedly to Kenny who was characteristically clattering away at his laptop. After surrounding himself with all the eatables he could find Tyson sat down to eat.

"I've got the most brilliant plan to get Kai and Ray together," he announced as he stuffed himself.

Max and Kenny both looked dubiously at him, or rather Max did; you couldn't really tell with Kenny since he had no visible eyes.

"You wanna run that by me again Tyson, you have a _what _to get together _who_?" Max asked inquisitively.

Tyson looked at him impatiently, "You heard me Max, stop being a comic."

This time it was Kenny who spoke up, "Tyson what makes you think they want to be together? Has it occurred to you that they might not even be gay?"

Tyson waved an arm airily, "Details, details. It is clearly evident that those two have a thing for each other."

Max and Kenny exchanged a look, when Tyson used worlds like 'clearly evident' something was not right and it worried them.

Tyson continued, "They just need an incentive to get together."

"And _you _are going to provide that incentive?" Max asked skeptically.

"Yes, and I have a perfect plan on how to do it."

"How? Pray tell, oh mighty Tyson," Max said grinning having decided to humour his friend. He was obviously having certain problems due to serious deprivation of food or something, he would be fine after he stuffed himself or so Max thought.

"It is a wonderful scheme planned by my brilliant mind." Tyson declared pompously.

Max couldn't help himself, "Your brilliant _what_ Tyson?"

Tyson frowned, "Mock me if you will, but I have faith in my brilliance."

"Tyson stop it, you are scaring us now," Max said nervously.

"I'll make believers of you yet," said Tyson getting up from the table (after consuming everything in sight) and walked off.

Max and Kenny stared after him.

"Do you realise that we are friends with a complete lunatic?"

Max could only nod in assent to the question.

-----

Max was sitting on the couch surfing the channels on TV. He was highly bored. Kenny was sitting in the far corner as usual with his laptop. Tyson wasn't to be seen and Kai and Ray had both gone out. The sound of the door slamming announced the arrival of someone and moments later Tyson breezed in, his hands behind his back and a grin plastered on his face. Max turned off the TV and jumped happily at the arrival of his friend.

"What's that behind your back Tyson?" Max asked eagerly.

"Are Kai and Ray here?" Tyson asked lowering his voice and looking around for the said two.

Max shook his head, "No, they've both gone out, why?"

Tyson grinned and produced a pair of shiny looking handcuffs. Max gaped and even Kenny came over to see what was up.

"Tyson where did you get that?" the Chief exclaimed.

"That doesn't matter," Tyson replied, "but remember I told you about my brilliant plan? Well, this little baby is a part of it. Actually you can say that it is the star of the show."

"What in the world do you plan to do with them?" the blond asked blue eyes wide.

"I'm going to cuff Kai and Ray to one another that way they can't escape and one way or the other they will have to tell each other how they feel."

Max sighed, "Tyson, let's go over this one more time – you don't know if they feel anything for each other besides friendship and respect. Also do you have some kind of a death wish? Kai would tear you limb from limb if you suggest the idea to him and I don't think Ray will appreciate it either."

"Who says I'm going to tell them?" Tyson asked grin still in place as though what Max had just said was in German.

Max smacked a hand to his face. Kenny sighed, "Tyson are you saying that those two won't _know_ they are bound to one another? They aren't stupid."

"I didn't say they won't find out, of course they will, but only _after_ I put it on them. Once I do that there is nothing they can do, they will be at my mercy."

Max leaned towards Kenny and whispered, "Kenny you keep him here, I'll go get the sedatives."

Tyson frowned, "Very funny Max."

Max tried one last time, "Okay Tyson, just tell us what makes you think those two should be together?"

Tyson sat down and looked at them and started talking as though addressing small children. He told them about his various observations the past few days, how the two flirted with each other in very subtle ways probably not even realising it themselves.

"-and to top it off I was observing them today and Ray said 'I hate you'," Tyson finished triumphantly.

Max sighed for what seemed like the millionth time, "Tyson, not meaning to sound rude but in which country's language does 'I hate you' actually mean 'I love you'?"

"You weren't there! You didn't hear the _way_ he said it!"

Max and Kenny slumped in their seats. They knew there was no way to get Tyson to back out of this. Once his mind was set on something he saw it through the end. And this time it seemed he was heading for a very painful end.

Tyson got up, "Look even if they don't wanna be together you have to admit this is going to be one helluva prank. I'm doing it tonight, when they are asleep. I'll go keep this in my room till it's time to commence the plan." Then he jogged off to the room he and Max shared.

Max and Kenny stared after him both coming to one conclusion – their friend was soon going to be a dead lunatic.

Just then the door opened again and Ray and Kai came in. Ray smiled in greeting whereas Kai stalked off towards the kitchen without giving them a second glance. Tyson came back in and his face split into a wild grin. Max had a feeling Tyson was going to give the game away before it even began which Max felt would be better since this prank was not quite stable according to him and would lead to a certain amount of bloodshed.

"What have you guys been up to?" asked Ray conversationally.

"Nothing." they said in unison, though they were in very different tones – Tyson said it too enthusiastically, Kenny's voice took a squeaky note and Max's tone was slightly nervous. Ray arched an eyebrow. He was no fool, something was up. Before he could interrogate them further Kai came in.

"Whose turn is it to cook dinner?" he asked coldly.

"Mine," said Max bounding up, eager to get away and almost tripping in his anxiety to reach the kitchen.

"I'll help," Kenny stated and took off after Max, Tyson followed leaving Kai and Ray alone.

"What was that all about?" Ray mused half to himself. Kai shrugged not really caring.

"They've been acting strange," Ray said. Kai walked over and sat down beside him.

"In what way?" he questioned.

"I can't say. Well, forget it. I'm probably reading too much into it," said Ray. They lapsed into one of their comfortable silences. It was nothing new that they preferred each others company to the rest. Being the older members of the team they found the others to be juvenile and they could talk to each other more comfortably.

"Is it something we should be worrying about?" Kai asked after sometime.

"Dunno, I think - "

"Guys, dinner's ready get in here before Tyson finishes it all up," Max hollered from the doorway.

The two got up and made their way to the kitchen. Dinner was a quiet affair but both Ray and Kai felt the others eyes on them. The moment they looked up the others went back to eating. And it was highly unsettling to see Tyson grin at his plate. After long last Kai snapped.

"Tyson, exactly what is so amusing about your plate," he snarled, he disliked such frivolous behaviour.

"Just remembered an old joke," Tyson said half choking. Kai did not quite believe him. He exchanged a look with Ray who shrugged.

After dinner as they got ready for bed Kai was still deep in thought, he turned to Ray who was brushing his hair.

"Is this what you meant by 'they were acting strange'?" Kai asked and Ray nodded with a small smile.

"It had better not be a prank," Kai muttered.

Suddenly Ray chuckled. Kai stared at him. "Don't tell me you've started laughing for no reason?"

Ray shook his head, still grinning, a fang showing itself. "No, I just remembered the last time Tyson played a prank and you made him polish the shoes of all the bladers at the last get together." With the memory of a humiliated Tyson and the dozens of amused bladers Ray laughed again.

Kai felt a small amused smirk tug at his own face. He liked it when Ray laughed, there was something contagious about it and he felt a tiny pride at having been the one to make him laugh. Ray finished brushing his hair and started to braid it to keep it free from tangles while he slept. Kai watched the movements of his hands as he mused over the day's events.

'I wonder what it would be like to touch it.' Kai frowned at the course of his own thoughts. Since when had he given a damn about Ray's hair? Then he realised that the prank Tyson had pulled the last time had nearly caused Ray to loose a chunk of his hair. Kai assured himself that he had punished Tyson solely to fulfill his duty as the team captain and not because he thought Ray had the most wonderful hair.

"Shall I switch off the lights?" Kai looked up startled from his reverie and nodded. Ray switched off the lights and curled up on his bed.

"Goodnight Kai."

"Hn"

'Why can't I say a simple goodnight?' That was Kai's last thought before he fell asleep.

-----

"I'm sure they are asleep by now."

Max groaned, "Tyson, this is suicide! Don't do it."

The two were standing outside Kai and Ray's bedroom in the dark hallway an hour after they had seen the lights being switched off. Max had no intention of being a part of this plan which he was sure would result in death in the most painful way possible at the hands of his captain. Ray wasn't really capable of too much violence but Max had seen Ray when he was very angry and the sight wasn't pretty. If Ray had a reason he could be just as scary as Kai.

With his friend's goodwill at heart Max had tried his best to dissuade Tyson but so far he had no luck. Tyson was adamant on following this foolishness.

"I think they are asleep," Tyson whispered placing his ear to the door and listening. There was no sound from within.

"Tyson what if they are awake? What if you get caught?"

"That's where you come in Max. If they are awake I'm going to tell them you fainted and I got scared so I came to fetch them."

"It will never work, you are going to get us both killed," Max moaned.

"Relax, now I'm going in. Wait for me here. If you hear voices drop to the floor and pretend to be unconscious."

Without waiting for a response Tyson opened the door half expecting a creak, none came. He crept in closing the door softly behind him. Ray and Kai's bedroom faced the street and light from the street lamps filtered through so it wasn't completely dark. Tyson walked quietly and flinched inwardly when one of the wooden floor boards creaked. He paused, heart thudding, eyes closed, praying. He opened his eyes and noticed that the two were still sleeping.

Breathing a sigh of relief he stood at the foot of the bed assessing the situation. Ray and Kai's beds were placed close together just a foot or so apart. Ray was sleeping on the bed on Tyson's left while Kai was on the right side. Ray was curled on his side facing Kai. His right hand clutching his rope of hair and his left hand slung over the edge of the bed. Tyson silently cheered, it looked as though Ray's hand was begging to be cuffed the way it was slung halfway over to Kai's bed.

Then Tyson gazed at Kai and groaned inwardly. Kai was sleeping on his back, his arms cushioning his head.

'Trust Kai to make it difficult,' he thought.

Then he remembered Kenny's words. _Tyson, if you really want to go ahead with this insanity make sure that you cuff them on opposing hands. As in, if you cuff Ray's right hand then make sure to cuff Kai's left or one of them will have to walk backwards._

The way Ray was sleeping it was easy to cuff his left hand meaning he would have to make sure Kai's right hand was free. He grinned, that would be better since Kai was right handed he couldn't inflict too much damage when he was in captivity. But the problem – how to cuff them with Kai sleeping the way he was? Tyson would either have to wait till he shifted or he would have to try some other time. As he thought this over Kai shifted. Feeling a surge of panic Tyson did the first thing he could think of and dived under Ray's bed for cover.

From his position on the floor Tyson saw Kai's feet land on the floor. Tyson waited with bated breath but Kai didn't get up or move.

'What is he doing?' Then Tyson grinned, 'maybe he's doing some late night Ray-watching.' Tyson continued grinning at his own thoughts. After a minute or so Kai's legs disappeared but Tyson knew he would have to wait till Kai fell asleep.

Tyson checked his watch for what felt like the millionth time. The glow in the dark digital numbers told him that he had been under Ray's bed for precisely 53 minutes. He was this close to falling asleep in the stifling space under the bed but somehow he managed to stay awake. Surely Kai would have fallen asleep by now?

Praying that to be true Tyson clambered out and for a minute stood straight and stretched his cramped muscles. He glanced at Kai and he half cried out in jubilance. Kai was sleeping on his side, his left hand over his stomach and right hand sprawled out like Ray's. Ray was still in the same position, peacefully sleeping.

'Bless you!' Tyson thought as he edged over to stand in between. It seemed Lady Luck seemed to prefer Tyson a lot as was evident in most of his matches. And even tonight she didn't forsake him. He carefully slipped the cuff into Ray's outstretched hand and heard the reassuring click. Now he would have to bring the two hands closer. Considering that moving Ray's hand was a lot less risky than moving Kai's he carefully pulled the tanned hand a little further until it achieved the conceivable distance. Another familiar click told him he had achieved what he wanted. Now even if they woke up there would be no problem.

He crept out just as silently as he had come in and woke Max who had fallen asleep in the hallway.

Max blinked sleepily, "Tyson, you're alive?"

Tyson grinned triumphantly, "'course I am. They are sleeping like babies in there."

Max still wasn't convinced, "Do you have any idea what's going to happen to you once they get up in the morning and discover what you've done?"

Tyson slipped into his bed without answering not really wanting to dwell on that question.

-----

When Kai woke up for some reason he felt something wasn't right. Still groggy from sleep he looked over at Ray and could barely make out his silhouette which was teetering close to the edge of his bed. Blinking Kai sat up and glanced at the clock. It read 9:15 meaning they had both overslept. He got up and felt his right arm heavier than usual.

'What the - ?' Kai thought, crimson eyes widening as he jerked his right hand up to find a tanned arm joining it with the help of a pair of handcuffs. A soft thud was heard.

Ray who had been dangerously close to the edges of his bed had suddenly been jerked at the hand causing him to loose balance and topple over the edge.

Kai felt another tug at his wrist and due to the incoherence of having just woken up lost his balance as well and fell on top of Ray in the narrow space between the two beds.

Ray groaned loudly. Firstly when he contacted unexpectedly with the floor and secondly when something heavy and warm fell right on top of him.

Kai got up off the slightly squashed nekojinn and his confused stare turned to an angry glare as he finally caught up on what was happening.

Ray sat up as well, wincing at the ache in certain parts of his body, he turned to Kai angrily, "Kai, what's the big deal! There are other ways to wake people up you know. If I have broken my hip bone or something I'll - "

He paused as Kai lifted his right hand. Ray's golden eyes widened as he saw his own left hand rising with it.

"What the hell is this?" Kai growled bringing his face dangerously close to Ray's.

"I have no idea," Ray whispered, bewilderment evident in his eyes and voice as he examined their predicament, "we've been cuffed together? But who - ? Why - ?"

"Can't you think of anyone who's been acting strange, lately?" Kai snarled furiously.

Ray's eyes widened in realisation then his pupils' slitted angrily.

"TYSON"

Tyson had been eating breakfast when he heard his name being furiously bellowed by his teammates in unison and he half-choked on his food. Gulping down the last of his breakfast he made to run just as the two angry bladers entered.

"Explain yourself!" Ray yelled. But Tyson was already out the back door.

"You'll thank me later!" he yelled as he ran.

Kai started to chase him but forgot that he was chained to Ray. His abrupt movement caused Ray to bang his knee on a chair and hiss in pain. Kai stopped and cursed. Tyson was long gone. He turned his attention to Ray who was clutching his knee, eyes closed to will the sharp pain away.

"This is fucking great," Kai fumed then forced himself to calm down, "are you all right?" he asked brusquely.

"Just dandy," Ray snarled back. Then they both paused to take deep breaths. It wasn't either of their fault so there was no use yelling at one another.

"Are you all right?" this time it was Max who asked, a tad timidly and flinched when they both glared at him.

"It was all Tyson's idea," he said desperately.

"You knew about this?" Ray asked shocked.

Max fidgeted, "Yeah well, he made me swear not to tell. Believe me I kept trying to talk him out of it."

Ray forced himself to smile, "I believe you. Now be a good boy and unlock us."

"I can't. I don't know where he's kept the keys."

Kai let out a string of obscenities constantly switching from English to Russian, "When I get my hands on him I am going to make him train till he's too old for it and even then I won't let him stop and then I'll kill him, slowly and painfully."

Ray sighed, "Look, I want to kill Tyson too but right now killing him is the least of our priorities. Maybe we should try and find the key ourselves."

Max looked doubtful, "Tyson keeps the room in a constant mess. And it is possible that he took it with him."

"I don't care," Kai growled, "just find the goddamn key!"

Ray suddenly remembered certain uncomfortable thoughts, "Um, Kai? Incase we don't find the key, how in the world are we going to, you know, get dressed and stuff?"

Kai realised what Ray was saying. Since it was summer time the two found it most comfortable to sleep only in their pants. Right now Ray was wearing only his pajama bottoms and Kai was wearing loose cotton pants – neither had shirts on. How in the world would they wear any shirts being handcuffed like that?

And that was only the beginning of their problems.

_Tbc…_

A/N: It's midnight! Happy birthday to me! Please review, I'll consider it as the best birthday gifts, it'll make me very happy!


	2. The problem commences

A/N: Sorry for the procrastination, here's the next chapter. **A huge thanks to all those who took the trouble to review**, it's the max I've received for a single chapter of any story – you guys are the greatest, continue to make me happy if you please and I hope to live up to your expectations, please feel free to make constructive criticism or state if you don't like something (although I prefer to get a solid reason as to why you don't like that particular something.)

Disclaimer: In the name of all things holy, I don't own beyblade.

_Linked Together_

_By Stunstar_

_Chapter 2 – the problem commences_

Tyson walked merrily towards the city park blissfully unaware of just how much inconvenience he had put his friends to. He sprawled over one of the benches in the park which was relatively deserted since nobody visited the park in mid-morning hours and glanced at his watch. About twenty minutes had passed since he had left his house. Now all he had to do was wait – wait for the two to get used to their predicament and then eventually declare their undying love for one another and then he would come in and free them of their bondage so that they could skip off together to do whatever it was that couples who had declared their undying love for one another did.

Tyson sat there with the most idiotic grin on his face as he thought all this through. He was basically a friendly guy who was always there for a friend and right now he was proud of himself. How happy and utterly grateful his two good friends would be when they realised exactly how huge a favour he had done them.

He checked his watch again and realised he had only been there for about ten minutes. He removed the key to the cuffs and stared at it as he continued grinning like an absolute moron unaware that right now his other teammates were going crazy searching for it and then pocketed it once again. His grin gradually faded and he huffed when boredom began to settle in. He knew that the declaration of undying love would come later since they first had to get used to the handcuffs and until their annoyance at him cooled down he would have to keep away from the house. He decided it safest to go back home only after sunset. He would have to think of passing the time until then.

He looked up at the cloudless sky. His grin returned when he figured in that it would be a perfect day for a beybattle and that too without Kai's suicidal training schedule. Just a fun, totally pointless beybattle where he could gloat about being a world champion until his opponent decided to punch him for rambling too much. He got up and stretched. All he needed was to find an opponent but that would be no problem since half the town was filled with jobless kids like himself.

He hummed to himself as he made his way around the park towards the beydishes. Little did he know that his jacket pocket had a hole in it; it was just a teensy one but large enough for a certain metallic key to fall through. He whooped and jumped with joy when he spotted a few kids beybattling and whipped his dragoon out yelling and challenging them like the showoff he was.

In his overenthusiastic yelling he failed to hear the distinct _chink_ as metal hit concrete before it slipped off the edge and settled inaudibly into the tiny tufts of grass beside the pathway hidden from human sight.

--------

**9:55 a.m.**

Max paced nervously in circles around the living room eyes darting every now and then towards the staircase expecting Kai and Ray to pop on down any time trying to kill one another. They had disappeared from a kitchen nearly half an hour ago to use the bathroom and so far Max had heard a variety of hisses, snarls and curses floating down from the upstairs bedroom in a variety of languages.

Sure Kai and Ray were good friends but even the best of friends sometimes tend to want to rip the others' throat out and considering the current situation they were both in they were bound to get on one anothers nerves because no human being would like to be literally bound to another no matter how close they were. And of course out of the team those two were most protective of their privacy.

Kenny was getting nervous as well and seeing Max nervous he was getting even more nervous.

"Max, stop pacing for goodness sake!" Kenny exclaimed finally in a high pitched voice when it was all too much to take.

"I can't!" Max replied, "It's the only thing keeping me sane at the moment. Kenny, didn't you notice those two? They are furious! In fact furious would be the understatement of the millennium. I just know that we are all going to die today," he concluded with a wail.

"Nobody's going to die," Kenny stated though he wondered what in the world possessed him to say that, of course they were going to die. He took a deep breath trying to convince himself about what he had just said. "Nobody's going to die," he repeated after calming himself ignoring the incredulous look Max gave him. "Kai and Ray are both sensible people they will resolve this in a –" he stopped speaking as he suddenly realised it was too quiet.

Max looked in the direction of the staircase and whispered, "They've done it, they've killed each other! Oh my God!"

Just then there was a thundering sound as two pairs of feet walked down the staircase and Max and Kenny turned apprehensive faces to one another before turning their full attention to the base of the stairs. Kai came into view closely followed by Ray.

"Kai, stop dragging me along like a rag doll, my wrist will start to bleed!"

Kenny got up from his place on the couch and slowly backed away a step Max following his lead. Ray was massaging his wrist as best as was possible with the cuffs on his face a mask of righteous indignation. Kai who was normally adept at masking emotions simply couldn't keep the cold fury off his face. Then Kenny and Max noted blue splotches on Kai and Ray's pants.

Max decided to be the brave one, "Uh, guys? Is everything all right?" What had started out as a normal question turned into a squeak as he now had the full attention of his older friends.

"Of course everything is all right. Everything is peachy. In fact Kai and I just decided to spend this utterly gorgeous day in Disneyland, want to come along?" Ray was notorious for being extremely sarcastic when he was in a mood.

Max took another brave stab at conversation, "Why do you guys have blue stains on your pants?"

"Because Ray was being his usual ham-fisted self," Kai glared.

Ray glared back. "Well it wasn't my fault that you wanted to apply your miserable face paint even during a crisis like this!"

"It's what I do everyday, deal with it!"

"Well I can't deal with it because in case you have forgotten I am handcuffed to you and forgive me if I didn't want to stand like a moron in the bathroom all day just so his majesty could put on his make-up which by the way would have taken you ages since you are currently left handed!"

'This is it,' Max thought miserably and closed his eyes covering Kenny's glasses with his hands and waited for the unmistakable sound of blows to occur. However the next thing he felt was someone shaking him.

"Max." He opened his eyes to see directly into Ray's golden ones.

"We need to know where the keys are," he stated and it was obvious that the calm in his voice was forced.

Max gulped. "I really don't know, Ray. I would really like to help, really I would, but I really don't know." He wondered vaguely why he used the word 'really' so many times in a single sentence.

Ray sighed wearily and now that Max saw him up close he looked as though he were about to cry out of frustration and he felt guilty knowing that he could have warned the two previously. He promised himself that he would never be a part of Tyson's brainless schemes again, how could he have been so stupid as to overlook all the possible hassles?

"Come on." They all looked up startled as it was Kai who spoke.

"Where?" Ray asked miserably.

"Tyson's room. We're going to see if we can find the key." And this time he waited for Ray to come with him instead of abusing the poor neko's wrist further. The two of them practically ran to the room shared by Max and Tyson while Max and Kenny decided to stay put in the living room. They stopped at the doorway deciding which would be the first place to look. Ray decided on the bedside cabinet drawer and started to move towards it, while Kai decided to look into Tyson's desk drawer and started moving towards that– both of which were unfortunately in opposite corners of the room. The ever insistent if not painful tug at the wrists stopped them both.

They looked at one another. They had to decide in a fair and rational way which should be looked into first.

"I say we look into the bedside cabinet drawer," Ray stated.

"The desk is obviously a more logical choice," Kai drawled starting to cross his arms but stopping when the action caused a tug at Ray's hand again.

"And what makes the desk a logical choice?"

"Because I said so!"

"Because you said so?" Ray stared at Kai incredulously, what kind of an utterly ridiculous and illogical argument was that? He was about to say so when he decided that an argument would get them nowhere. Who cared where they started as long as they found the key. So Ray, who was relatively more adjustable of the two decided to go along with Kai, but he was not going to go easy on Tyson's room.

**10:17 a.m.**

Max after having grown tired of sitting in the living room in anticipation decided to go up to his room. On entering he almost shrieked. Their room was totally unrecognisable, it looked as though it had been ransacked; every single drawer, cupboard, shelf had been totally plundered. He watched as Ray randomly threw every piece of clothing from the closet as he checked the pockets.

"It's not here!" he exclaimed to Kai, throwing the last piece clothing just as Kai rummaged through the last remaining drawer and came to the same conclusion.

They passed a stunned Max on their way out. "Sorry 'bout the room Max," Ray said, "make Tyson clean it when he gets back."

**10:20 a.m.**

Ray collapsed on his bed and felt the slight dip of the mattress as Kai sat down. His basically nice nature now made him feel slightly guilty about his previous outburst. He knew it wasn't Kai's fault, nor was it Max's or Kenny's, but he couldn't help it, it had been a thing of the moment and now he just decided to come to terms with the situation.

It was inevitable – they would be stuck together like this until Tyson came back with the key. And fighting with one another would only make it more difficult. He and Kai always got along well, so there really shouldn't be too much of a problem now if they just co-operated.

"Hey Kai." Kai grunted to show that he was listening.

"Well, I just wanted to apologise for my behaviour earlier. I mean we aren't to blame for this, right? So we should just adjust the best way we can," Ray paused for a while, there was no reaction from Kai so he decided to continue even though he wasn't sure what else there was to say. "So, I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry." There he had said it now it was up to Kai to respond.

**10:23 a.m.**

Ray looked at the bedside clock, it had been a whole one minute and seventeen seconds since he had made his little speech and there was still no reaction from Kai. Ray huffed, the least he could say was – 'No Ray, it wasn't your fault, I can totally understand. In fact I was a little cranky too so I'm sorry as well' and then they would share a friendly hug and maybe smile a little goofy 'friend' smile. Ray couldn't help but grin and shake his head at the thought of _that_ coming out of Kai.

**10:25 a.m.**

Ray was convinced now – Kai had gone deaf. Or else he had miraculously turned dumb in the space of a few minutes. And at such a young age too. Why else would he not respond? Ray looked over at Kai, he had spoken in English, right?

**10:28 a.m.**

Ray frowned. This was getting annoying. "Kai did you- ?"

"I heard you," Kai interrupted before Ray could complete his question.

"Then would it have killed you to respond?" Ray huffed.

"It's fun to watch you get all annoyed and worked up." A slow smirk spread across Kai's face.

"I so hate you," Ray mumbled.

"I know you do."

Ray grinned. They seemed to have broken the awkwardness and discomfort caused by the situation they were in and they were back to being the way they normally were with each other. They were quiet for sometime before Ray decided to speak up, "Come on." He got up and walked towards the bathroom with Kai in tow. He opened the cabinet and removed Kai's bottle of face paint. "I want to make up for this morning." He held out the bottle for Kai, "Take your time, it's not like we're going anywhere."

**10:40 a.m.**

Out of the corner of his eye Kai saw Ray shift from foot to foot, it reminded him of the earlier scenario in the bathroom when Ray in agitation had knocked some of his face paint on the two of them. The reason for his restlessness was clear; Kai hadn't managed to paint a single triangle on his face. He wasn't very adept at using his left hand and had smeared the face paint messily and Kai being something of a perfectionist had been removing and repainting for the good part of ten minutes and he was still doing the same thing. To Ray it didn't look as though he would finish any time in this century.

Kai put another streak on his cheek and examined it in the mirror. No, he decided it was a little too much to the right; the angle was not at all proper. He kept his brush down, cupped his hand under the tap, splashed the water on his cheek and scrubbed the paint off and re-lifted his brush.

Ray looked at him disbelievingly, for the love of – this was the fifteenth time Kai had done that, not that he had been counting or anything. But of course Kai could take all the time in the world it's not like Ray had anything better to do; standing in the bathroom doing nothing was obviously his favourite pastime.

Every ounce of Ray wanted to blast at Kai, what kind of a ridiculous ritual was that? Who in God's name wasted precious time painting their face unless they were of ancient Red Indian tribe? But he couldn't, not after apologising for losing his temper that morning. He couldn't yell again and then apologise again, that made absolutely no sense. So he waited, and waited and waited.

**10:50 a.m.**

There is a limit to everybody's patience, isn't there? That's what makes us human. And since Ray wasn't an alien of any sort he was fast losing his patience. Ten minutes and just one blessed triangle! In the time Kai had used to paint that one measly thing Ray felt he could have cut off his hair, regrown it, brush it and try a hundred fifty styles with it. O-kay, maybe he was exaggerating but he was getting annoyed and such thoughts are absolutely justified in annoyance.

"Kai."

"Hm?"

"I'd like to leave this bathroom before I die."

Kai paused in his task, "I thought you said I could take my time."

'What in the world had possessed me to say that? I probably wasn't thinking right when I said it,' Ray thought instead he said, "But I didn't mean all the time in the world! I don't want to grow roots here. I've counted the number of tiles in this bathroom for pity's sake!"

"So, what is your point?"

"My point is, instead of wasting all this time, I could put on your face paint for you, I mean - my right hand is free."

Ray wondered what Kai would make of his offer. A part of him felt that Kai would not accept, Kai rarely accepted offers from others. But another part of him hoped that Kai would so that they could get on with their lives.

"Fine." For a moment Ray didn't react. Kai had actually accepted? Maybe things would get better after this. But first things first, Ray grabbed the bottle and brush from Kai's hand and lead him out of the bathroom – he had seen enough of the stupid bathroom to last him a lifetime. Kai sat down on the bed while Ray dragged a chair over to sit in front of him. He dipped the brush in the bottle and with careful precision started painting the blue triangles Kai seemed so fond of.

Kai meanwhile had nothing to do but stare at Ray, which was suddenly a problem. Ray was too close. And his fingers brushed Kai's face every now and then as he painted. Ray was so engrossed in getting his job done right that he didn't notice anything. And Kai stared and stared. Damn it, Ray was too close. But why was it a problem? It wasn't like Ray was his secret crush and obsession and the mere nearness of him was driving Kai insane. That was utter bullshit; of course he didn't have a secret crush and obsession over Ray. He was merely a good friend, damn good-looking agreed, but just a friend. And he had the most adorable concentration pucker.

While Kai was silently going crazy over his own confusing and senseless thoughts Ray finished with a triumphant, "Done!" and a toothy grin. Kai stared some more, Ray had a cute smile. He shook his head – cute smile? Good-looking? Great hair? Cute concentration pucker? What was the matter with him? He convinced himself it was due to the strange events since morning and to get rid of his annoying thoughts more than anything else he got up to take a look in the mirror.

He was impressed. And Kai was rarely impressed. Ray had done a fine job and the triangles were triangles to perfection.

"Nice," he complimented. Ray's grin widened and he stood closer to Kai to peer at their reflection in the mirror. They were still shirtless, obviously, and would be till Tyson freed them, in the reflection they looked like the kind of boys who contantly liked to check out their body and flex their muscles, though that wasn't what they were doing at all.

'We look good together,' Ray thought and then paused and mentally shook his head realising how it sounded. He had made it look like they were a couple and of course they were not. Sometimes such silly thoughts entered people's head. He dismissed it and looked at the clock. 11:04 it read.

Where was Tyson?

-------

'Where the bloody hell's Tyson?' Max thought as he wandered down one street. After seeing the state in their room Max had resolved to find Tyson and get things back to normal. And of course he was going to make Tyson clean up their room. On his way out he had overheard Ray apologising to Kai and he had been relieved to hear it knowing that now Ray was relatively calm and if one had calmed himself naturally he wouldn't have to worry about bloodshed. He wished Hilary were here, she would give Tyson the yelling of a lifetime.

He asked a couple of shopkeepers if they'd seen Tyson but they all shook their heads negative. He looked up at the cloudless sky and thought what a beautiful day it was in actuality, trust Tyson to ruin it. He knew that Tyson had their friends' best interests at heart – kind of. But it was still reckless. The sooner he found Tyson the better. Maybe they could just find some other way of getting Kai and Ray together – if they wanted to be – like locking them in a room or something which was definitely less stressful than this.

Max paused and wondered where he could find Tyson. He had already searched the beyblade training areas. So where else would a guy who was unemployed, undereducated, who was good in beyblading and loved to brag about it go? The next obvious choice was the park.

Sure enough when Max neared the beydishes in the park he heard enthusiastic yells and clash of beyblades and what was unmistakably Tyson's animated shouts.

"Tyson." Said blader whirled around just as his beyblade knocked his opponents' out of the dish and flew into his hand. He grinned and flicked his nose with his thumb.

"Hey, Max what's up? Those two lovebirds get together already?"

"Tyson, you are coming home right now," Max stated firmly, hands on hips like a mother telling a truant child.

"But Maxie," Tyson whined.

"No buts Tyson. Do you have any idea what kind of a predicament you have put Kai and Ray to? They can't do a single thing without getting in the others' way. And you know how reserved those two are. They even had to use the bathroom together! Look, if you really want to "get them together" as you put it then we'll find some other way to do it. Let's just get them free from those handcuffs now, all right?"

"Oh all right," Tyson mumbled kicking the ground childishly and followed Max out of the park.

"By the way, they totally thrashed our room searching for the key. You have to clean it and speaking of key let me have it so that you don't change your mind in the last minute and take off again." Max stopped walking and held his hand out to take the key from Tyson.

Tyson reached into his pocket. Nothing. He frowned, he was sure he had kept the key there. He searched all his pockets even the ones in his pants even though he was sure he had kept it in his jacket pocket. Max tilted his head to one side, hand still held out as Tyson searched more frantically. Not coming up with anything from any pocket Tyson removed his jacket and peered into the pocket he had kept the key as though hoping it would materialise there if he did so. It was then that he noticed the tiny hole.

"Uh oh."

_Tbc…_

A/N: When I called Tyson 'undereducated' I'm referring to the fact that although they are teenagers they don't seem to be attending school (except for that time in the beginning of season 2). And I hope none of them have overreacted in any way – I've based it on the fact that I think anybody would be highly pissed off at such a prank (especially if it was played right after getting up in the morning which defintely calls for more crankiness.)

Next chapter: How will Tyson tell them the key is lost? How will they react? And more of those unexplainable feelings. And definitely more chaos.

Please review!


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